Week 15 - Day 5 - Coal Creek Canyon

A chilly morning for a ride.  The weather was supposed to be nice today, so I wanted to get out and ride.  I wasn't thinking too carefully, because it was pretty damn cold when I went outside this morning.  Sure it was nice this afternoon, but it was a different story at 8am.  I knew it was going to be a chilly ride when I had to scrape ice off my windows this morning.

It really seemed like it was time to get out and do some climbing.  Most of the riding I've been doing has either been on a trainer, or on the flat country roads near my house, along with some flat bike trail rides near work.  I'm going to be doing some pretty big climbs this summer, so I really need to start spending time in the mountains.  So, I decided to climb Coal Creek Canyon, one of my regular climbs from last year.  I was dressed for the cold weather, but I was still a little chilly.  I had tights, a long-sleeved jersey, a windbreaker, shoe covers and a balaclava.

Today marks 3 months until the Triple Bypass, my biggest planned ride for this summer.  I'm planning a number of decent rides this year, but the 120-mile Triple Bypass is definitely the big one.  I'm really happy with how my training has been going so far.  I'm feeling pretty strong already, and I've barely done any outdoor riding yet.  And I've lost +/- 40 lbs since January 1, which is well one my way to my goal.  I want to be at 165 lbs or below for the Triple Bypass, and I've got about 20 lbs to go.  It's going to be rough going, but I think I can manage.

I have another ride coming up tomorrow morning.  This will be my first ride with the Lifetime Fitness cycle club.  Looking forward to it.  Looks like a relatively flat ride, about 58 miles.  I ended up going out to the Avery Brewery in Boulder with some friends tonight, which had me a little worried about what I might be eating/drinking prior to a big ride, but I managed to hold myself to just one beer and a pretty small pizza.  So, I should still be ok.

Food:

• Breakfast:  Scrambled eggs with chopped peppers and chorizo.  Awesome.
• Lunch:  Steak fajita burrito from Chipotle
• Dinner:  Small pepperoni and pepper pizza and a Karma from Avery Brewery.
• Snack:  The kids and I rode bikes to get some Good Times frozen custard this afternoon.

Exercise:

• 24 mile ride in Coal Creek Canyon.  12 miles up, 12 miles down.  2,700 feet of elevation gain.  Garmin Connect report below.

Today's weigh-in:  189.4